By most accounts, Pentecost was the single, busiest day of the year for Jerusalem. It was one of three sacred festivals in which all devout Jews, at some point in their lifetimes, were required to visit the Holy City. Indeed, some historians estimate that, at Pentecost, Jerusalem swelled from its usual population of a hundred thousand to more than a million inhabitants—all crammed into a space of about three hundred acres!

And somewhere in the midst of all of that, a tiny group of Jesus’ followers gathered together to study scripture and pray. It is one of the earliest appearances of the church. But notice where God has placed them. Not isolated in a barren desert or quarantined in a protective bunker. Not separated from society at all—but right smack-dab in the heart of one of the largest cities at its busiest time.

In other words, God has the church exactly where God needs it. And then, says Luke, the Holy Spirit came upon them suddenly — not predictably, or expectedly, or customarily -- but suddenly! That’s usually the way it is with God, isn’t it? The Almighty pays little heed to our timing or techniques. The attitude of “We’ve never done it that way before” is not going to work with God, because ours is a God full of surprises.

The next thing you know, the disciples begin proclaiming the gospel in a multitude of different languages. Andrew starts describing God’s grace in Egyptian. Thomas is busy explaining God’s love in Latin. Bartholomew launches into a sermon to the Cretans. John is relating the resurrection story to the Cappadocians.

To be sure, some cynics in the crowd accuse the disciples of a little early morning inebriation. But others are amazed and ask, “What does this mean?”

Good question. What does it mean? Well, at least this much: God wants the message of Jesus Christ to be heard by everyone. There is no one to whom the church can ever say, “This is privileged information, and it’s not really meant for you.”

Ultimately, the church needs to be able to speak in ways that all people can understand. Hence, we need to learn the vocabulary of that discouraged neighbor down the block, and the vernacular of that lonely coworker across the hall, and the idiom of those moody teenagers who roll their eyes whenever we open our mouths.

It seems like a tall order. But then again, we are not doing this all on our own. The disciples never enrolled in a Rosetta Stone course to learn Mesopotamian; the Holy Spirit gave them the ability to speak. They were just open to the possibilities. Simply put, the church did not create Pentecost … Pentecost created the church!